ANTHROPOMORPHISM AND COSMISM 



ever given any evidence of discerning. What 

 Comte did not see was, that from first to last 

 there is no change in the nature of the psy- 

 chological process ; and that, even at the last, 

 the hidden Power underlying and sustaining 

 the world of phenomena can no more be ig- 

 nored than at the beginning. Let us examine 

 both these points, and note well their signifi- 

 cance. 



In the first place there is no change in the 

 nature of the mental processes concerned in the 

 development. From first to last, whether we 

 give a theological, a metaphysical, or a scientific 

 explanation of any phenomenon, we are inter- 

 preting it in terms of consciousness. To recur 

 to our old illustration — on seeing a tree blown 

 down by the wind, the primitive man concludes 

 that the wind possesses intelligence and exerts 

 volition ; he calls it Hermes, or Boreas, or Or- 

 pheus, and erects to it a temple, wherein by 

 prayer and sacrifice he may avert its displeasure. 

 In a later age the wind is no longer regarded as 

 endowed with conscious volition ; but it is still 

 regarded as exerting effort, and overcoming the 

 forces which tend to keep the tree in its place. 

 Obviously this is at bottom the same conception 

 as its predecessor, save that it is less crudely an- 

 thropomorphic. Now in the scientific explana- 

 tion, we omit also the conception of a specific 

 nisus or effort, and regard the falling of the tree 



253 



